Monthly Archives: January 2014

Thank heavens for three-day weekends. They are the only good thing about working at the Mad House, without them I would go bonkers. Sometimes on Friday I have a lie in but today I got up when Commando got into bed and did some Wii Fit and Pump it Up before breakfast. I’m persevering with the dance routine but, to be honest, I can’t really see any signs of improvement. Maybe I’m being too tough on myself because I don’t have to stop the DVD every few minutes to check out the steps but this could be because I just walk on the spot when I get lost. Continue reading →

so much information my brain feels like it’s bursting out through my ears

Wii Fit weigh in average for the last week, one pound down! Yay! A little more would have been nice but lets not be greedy eh, being greedy was what got me in this position, that and being lazy. If only I hadn’t gone off the rails when I started at Mad House I could be so much lighter now. At this time in November I was a whole stone lighter. This time I have to keep it off. Continue reading →

We had Mac and Joe round for dinner tonight which was fun. This time I did the cooking though. Last time Mac got all critical about Joe’s cooking and kept offering unwanted advice and Joe got a touch on the sulky side which made him a bit heavy handed with the chillies because he knows Mac doesn’t like his food too spicy. The resulting Thai curry almost took the roof of my mouth off, although Commando ate all his. Continue reading →

Finally it’s Thursday, I thought this week was going to go on forever. It’s bad enough working at the Mad House at the best of times but with morale at an all time low it’s just horrible. I have never seen so many glum faces gathered together in my life. Continue reading →

Official Wi Fit weigh in result this morning, three and a half pounds off for the week! I’m back down to my Christmas Day weight which is good but it would have been better if I hadn’t put on eighteen pounds over December and the beginning of January in the first place. There will be no proper celebrating until I’ve got all of it off and, even then, it won’t involve chocolate or cake. I’m not under any illusion that I’ll lose three pounds every week either. Everything I’ve read, and that has been a considerable amount, says the first week is always a big loss because most of it’s water. Come to think of it, I have been peeing a lot, that’s probably the water.

I really enjoyed the walk to work. Well, right up until the moment the big, ugly brown building came into view, then I felt sick at the thought of ten hours stuck inside there. When am I going to win the lottery? The mood in the office hadn’t improved over the weekend. In huddle Ali Rana announced Tom wouldn’t be coming back, he’s handed in his notice.
“If he hadn’t, I’d have sacked him for walking off the floor without permission anyway,” he added, just in case anyone else got the idea in their head. What is it with that man? Why does he think he has to keep flexing his muscles at us?

Now Tom’s gone he’s back to picking on me. Guess I’ve taken over the bottom spot. This morning, as I walked past his desk on my way back from the loo, he snapped, “where have you been?”
“To the toilet,” I replied, feeling a bit embarrassed to tell the truth.
“Can’t you wait until break time? The commitment on this team is terrible.”
I slunk back to my desk wondering what he meant about commitment.

The conversation at lunch was all about Ali Rana and how much everyone hated him.
“Tom had the right idea walking out,” Eloelia tore open a packet of crisps so viciously they sprayed all over the table. “If it didn’t mean not being able to sign on I’d hand my notice in too.”
“You should try being an expert,” Primo said, absentmindedly eating one of Eloelia’s spilled crisps. “Not only am I doing my own work, dealing with all the complicated issues and court cases but he’s got me doing half his work too. He’s supposed to prepare the stats, do the side by sides and write the appraisals but he expects me to do it while he sits there all day looking for things to moan about. I’m so fed up I’m going to talk to Karen about being moved to another team.”
“Don’t leave us with him,” Panda wailed. “Having you on the team’s the only thing that’s keeping me sane at the moment.”
“Hmm, I wouldn’t call you sane,” Primo muttered.
“Did you hear what he said to FG this morning?” Rae asked then proceeded to tell anyone who hadn’t heard all about the toilet incident, much to my shame.
“He didn’t!” Primo said. “That’s harassment.”
“He did,” I admitted.
“But going to the toilet’s already factored into commitment time. Anyhow, your commitment’s always over a hundred percent,” Primo sounded really angry.
“Um, what exactly is commitment time?” I asked, feeling stupid for not knowing as usual.
“Oh FG, you crack me up,” Panda said. “Commitment is the time you’re logged on. It’s supposed to be at least ninety five percent of the hours you work. That means you can be logged off for half an hour a day and still be on target. Even you couldn’t go to the loo that much, besides you’re always stuck on a call at the end of the day which adds to your commitment.”
“No one really takes any notice of commitment time anyway unless someone’s constantly under ninety five percent,” Primo said. “it isn’t part of your quarterly bonus or anything.”
I didn’t even bother asking about quarterly bonus. I’d already made myself look stupid enough for one day.

At about half past seven I needed to go to the loo again. Despite what everyone had said I was hoping Ali Rana wouldn’t notice. I’d actually been trying to hold on until eight but I just couldn’t. Of course, when I came back he spotted me.
“Where have you been now? Every time I look up you’re out of your seat.”
“I’ve been to the toilet,” I said, then remembering the conversation at lunch I added. “Unfortunately, I’m an old lady. I’ve had three children and a hysterectomy. My bladder isn’t what it used to be.”
As I turned on my heel and went back to my desk Ali Rana was blushing but he didn’t say another word.
Panda, who had heard the whole thing, burst into loud laughter and I’m sure I heard Primo sniggering in the corner.

In the lift on the way out of the office Masher said, “well done on standing up to Ali Rana this afternoon FG. Who the hell does he think he is anyway.”
“I bet he’ll think twice before asking you again,” Rae said. “I was bursting with laughter.”
“That really told him,” Panda agreed.

The weekend goes way too fast, even with three days of it. Still, I’ve managed a whole week of the big push for Turkey without a single slip up, unless you count the fence breaking on the ice the other day. Every single day I’ve done Wi Fit and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I did the Pump it Up warm up too. Actually, I think I’m improving on that slightly. Occasionally I manage to move in the same direction as all the skinny girls on the DVD and, on Thursday, I didn’t feel like I was about to have a heart attack at the end of the ten minutes although my thighs felt like they were going to spontaneously combust during the squat pumps. I still can’t get through all those squat pumps without stopping either but even the dancers look like they’re struggling, one of the ones at the back almost gives up and they’re professional dancers. Maybe if I can actually master it I might move on to the twenty-minute dance workout. They call it an easy work out but, seeing as the warm up nearly kills me, I’m not so sure about that. Goodness knows what the high-energy section will be like, I’m too scared to even watch it. It is fun though, in a twisted kind of way. Continue reading →

Billy came in this morning with a brand new cast, a bandage on his arm and a letter from the hospital. It didn’t do him any good though. As soon as huddle was over Ali Rana took him off into the pod. They were in there for ages. Ali Rana went straight from the pod to Karen’s desk and Billy just hobbled to his desk on his crutches, packed up his stuff and left without a word. We were all on the phones so there was no chance to talk to him but it would seem he’s been sacked. Shocked is not the word.

It seems to me we are all just a little bad luck away from the same thing. Gunbir seemed especially upset. It wasn’t as if he and Billy were all that pally so I asked Panda about it when we went on our break.
“Gunbir had two operations last year on his bowel. Something went wrong after the first one and he was rushed in for a second just before you started. Now he’s waiting for a third. He’s on a stage three already and, if his operation comes through before February, he’ll be on a stage four.”
“Shit!”
“I don’t think he actually believed they could sack him when he had a real illness until today. Turns out they can though.”

After lunch Masher came back with an Echo and a worried look. There is an article on the front page about Mad House. They’re saying our office is on a short list for closure, or at least massive job cuts. There are Mad House offices all over the country but ours is one of the biggest and the company have denied it all. They say our jobs are safe but the Echo claims to have seen internal company correspondence that says otherwise. Morale is at an all time low.

More snow fell last night, just an inch or so this time, but it was so cold this morning it was frozen by the time I left for work. The ground was solid ice and, just round the corner on the main road I slipped, lunged at a fence and ended up taking it down with me as I fell. Really I should have made a note of the house and called back later to offer to pay for a new fence. At the time I was slightly busy trying to stop myself slipping right into the road and, when I got to less slippery ground and looked back, all the fences along that part of the road were down. It was anyone’s guess which one I’d grabbed. Continue reading →

Day two of the Big Push for Turkey and I started off with some Wii Fit. One advantage of not having to be at work until nine thirty is time in the morning to exercise, I can get it over with while I’m still half asleep which takes the pain out of it a little. Continue reading →

So, day one of The Big Push for Turkey. I broke out the Wii Fit this morning, it has hardly been used since Christmas, mostly because I couldn’t forgive it for making me weigh myself in front of Commando and for telling me I’d put on fifteen bloody pounds. To be honest I’m still not happy with it. Today it told me I’ve out on another three pounds since then, back to eleven thirteen. How come it’s so easy to put it on and so hard to get it off? Continue reading →